Minister of health Dr Aaron Motsoaledi has addressed concerns over whether rats in SA, especially in Alexandra township, carry the deadly hantavirus that recently claimed the lives of a few passengers on a luxury cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean.
Alex, in northern Johannesburg, is notorious for the marauding army of rats that the government has tried to deal with over the years, including moving owls into the area as well as spending R2.5m on chemicals to rid the township of the rodents.
Briefing the portfolio committee of health on Wednesday, Motsoaledi said: South African rats do not carry this virus...it is a virus that is found in the Americas in North and South America and it is a virus that is found in Europe and in India. I do not know of any case that has ever been picked up in SA among the rats.'
